Press Releases

The General Assembly this morning elected Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway and Singapore to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council. Their two-year terms will commence 1 January 2001, when they will fill the seats vacated on 31 December 2000 by Argentina, Canada, Malaysia, Namibia and the Netherlands.

After the first round of voting, Colombia, Ireland and Singapore obtained the required two-thirds majority. A fourth round of balloting, was required before Norway and Mauritius were elected.

The Assembly was seeking to elect two non-permanent members from the African and Asian States, one from the Latin American and Caribbean States, and two from the Western European and Other States, to join the five permanent Council members -- China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States -- and those non-permanent members whose terms extend until 31 December 2001 -- Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Assembly President, Harri Holkeri (Finland), paid tribute to the late Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Douglas, who passed away on 1 October, and asked the representative of Dominica to convey the Assembly’s condolences to the people of Dominica and to the family of Mr. Douglas.

The representative of Dominica said the legacy of Mr. Douglas was that he dared to ask, "Why not?". Mr. Douglas had touched the life of many people in Dominica, in the Caribbean region and elsewhere, he said, and the Commonwealth of Dominica had lost a consistent fighter for freedom and social and economic justice.

The Assembly President also announced that Chad, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter, and therefore retained their right to vote in the Assembly. [Article 19 states that a Member State which is in arrears to the extent of the amount of its contributions for the preceding two full years shall have no vote in the General Assembly.]

The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 12 October, to elect members of subsidiary bodies.Statements

SIMON PAUL RICHARDS (Dominica) thanked the President for the tribute to Mr. Douglas and, on behalf of Mr. Douglas's family and the Government and people of his country, expressed thanks to those from whom he had received words of comfort and sympathy. He said Mr. Douglas, born on 15 October 1941, had been pursuing doctoral studies in political science when, during the events of the sixties, he took a stand against racism. He left school and immersed himself in local politics, striving for independence from Britain. From 1982 until his death, Mr. Douglas was the leader of the Labour Party. On 4 February 2000 he was sworn in as the fifth Prime Minister.

Mr. Douglas had a passionate commitment for the empowerment of the poor. Because of his concern for social justice he became involved in international solidarity work. He played an important role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Never a politician of the conventional mode, he energized the political debate by advocating positions considered unwise by some. In his quest for dignity for the less privileged, he was not stopped by criticism at home and abroad.

The legacy of Mr. Douglas was that he dared to ask, "Why not?", he said. The Commonwealth of Dominica had lost one of his sons, a consistent fighter for freedom and social and economic justice, and one of Caribbean’s leading political figures.

Elections

The President of the Assembly, HARRI HOLKERI (Finland), speaking prior to balloting, said that in accordance with established practice one of the two States to be elected from the African and Asian States should be from Africa and the other from Asia.

He said he had been informed that there were three candidates for the two vacancies from among the African and Asian States -- Mauritius, Sudan (endorsed by the Group of African States), and Singapore (endorsed by the Asian States). The endorsed candidate to fill the one vacancy for the Latin and Caribbean States was Colombia. There were three candidates to fill two vacancies for the Western European and Other Group of States, namely Italy, Ireland and Norway.

He informed the Assembly that, in accordance with the rules of procedure, the election would be held by secret ballot. To be successful candidates must receive the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.

The results of the first round of balloting to elect five non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2001 were as follows:

African and Asian States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173Abstentions: 1
Number of Members voting: 172
Required Majority: 115Number of Votes Obtained:

Mauritius: 95
Singapore: 168
Sudan: 69

Latin American and Caribbean States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 5
Number of Members voting: 168
Required Majority: 112

Number of Votes Obtained:

Colombia: 168

Western European and Other States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 0
Number of Members voting: 173
Required Majority: 116

Number of Votes Obtained:

Italy: 94
Ireland: 130
Norway: 114

Having obtained the two-thirds majority required, Colombia, Ireland and Singapore were elected as members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2001.

A second round of voting was required to fill the two remaining Council seats.

[According to Rule 94 of the General Assembly's Rules of Procedure, if the number of candidates obtaining such majority is less than the number of persons of Members to be elected, there shall be additional ballots to fill the remaining places.]

The results of the second round of balloting were as follows:

African and Asian States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 6
Number of Members voting: 167
Required Majority: 112

Number of Votes Obtained:

Mauritius: 102
Sudan: 65

Western European and Other States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots: 172
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 170
Required Majority: 114

Number of Votes Obtained:

Italy: 70
Norway: 100

Since neither Mauritius, Sudan, Italy or Norway obtained the required majority, a third round of voting by secret ballot was called for. The results of the third round of balloting were as follows:

African and Asian States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Number of valid ballots: 172
Abstentions: 4
Number of Members voting: 168
Required Majority: 112

Number of Votes Obtained:

Mauritius: 110
Sudan: 58

Western European and Other States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 1
Number of Members voting: 172
Required Majority: 115

Number of Votes Obtained:

Italy: 62
Norway: 110

Since no candidates received the required majority, a fourth round of voting was called for. The results of the fourth round of balloting were as follows:

African and Asian States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 5
Number of Members voting: 168
Required Majority: 112

Number of Votes Obtained:

Mauritius: 113
Sudan: 55

Western European and Other States

Number of ballot papers: 173
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Number of valid ballots: 173
Abstentions: 1
Number of Members voting: 172
Required Majority: 115

Number of Votes Obtained:

Italy: 57
Norway: 115

Having obtained the two-thirds majority required, Mauritius and Norway were elected as members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2001.